NewsNet5
NAVARRE, Ohio — At age 86, when most people his age, are usually well into retirement, easing their bodies into comfortable chairs, Bill Whitmore is still chasing fires. And putting them out. He is the oldest firefighter in Ohio and is still certified by the state to be an emergency medical technician.
“I’ve been on a lot of fires and a lot of squad calls and auto accidents over the years,” said Whitmore, as he sat easily on the bench between the two giant doors of the Navarre fire department. Whitmore has lost count of how often he has responded to emergencies in the community where the population numbers about 2,000.
He is in his 65th year as a volunteer firefighter. He began his career in another fire department in 1946. The U.S. Army drafted him during the Korean War, where he spent a couple of years carrying a rifle. He even witnessed the testing of an H-bomb in a Pacific island. When he returned to civilian life in the early 1950s, he rejoined the firefighter business.
Full story: At age 86, Navarre, Ohio, volunteer firefighter has been on the job 65 years: My Ohio